Environmentally Preferred Purchasing
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It is the preference of the County of Napa to purchase products and services that support our sustainability goals as stated in the Summary of Vision in the Napa County General Plan, using the guidelines provided herein, and third party certifications wherever available.
To this end, Napa County shall, wherever practical:
1. Purchase all printing and copy paper products that meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) for post-consumer recycled fiber content.
2. Procure environmentally preferable janitorial paper products that meet or exceed U.S. EPA CPG for recycled - content.
3. Procure re-fined oil certified by the American Petroleum Institute. The Public Works Department will conduct a pilot program for a designated portion of the motor vehicle fleet using motor oil containing 25% re-refined base stock. If successful, this will be expanded to entire fleet.
4. Evaluate the use of recycled propylene glycol antifreeze for our motorized fleet.
5. Purchase carpets that meet EPA CPG recycled content specifications and containing the lowest volatile compound (VOC) content available.
6. Not purchase cleaning or disinfecting products which contain ingredients that are identified by the U.S. EPA or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Administration as carcinogens or mutagens.
7. Not use chlorofluorocarbon containing refrigerants, solvents and other products phased out to accommodate the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and that do not meet other national requirements.
8. Ensure that all surfactants meet U.S. EPA standards as readily biodegradable. Where practical, no detergents shall contain phosphates.
9. Ensure that all paint purchased contains the minimum amount necessary of volatile organic compounds, and that shall meet EPA CPG recycled content specifications.
10. Ensure that electronic equipment, either purchased or leased, including computers, printers, photocopiers, kitchen and laundry appliances, and energy management systems meets U.S. EPA or U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) energy efficient standards. The energy efficiency function must be enabled at all times.
11. Require that all departments and their contractors/consultants use double-sided copying or duplexing. When practical, all new purchased or leased photocopiers and printers are required to be capable of duplexing, and this must be set as a default option,
12. Where external authorities and/or universally recognized, independent third party certifying agencies have not established environmental guidelines, integrate environmental factors into the County’s purchasing decisions. Examples may include, but are not limited to:
a. Consideration of emissions when purchasing fleet vehicles, and the consumption of energy required to maintain each vehicle.
b. Consideration of life-cycle economics and analysis
c. Consideration of purchasing re-usable, rechargeable, recyclable, and or compostable goods when making procurement decisions.
d. Providing locally grown and organic foods in County facilities.
13. Ensure that other products which are not specifically indentified in this policy meet U.S. EPA CPG specifications for recycled content where such guidelines are available.
14. Follow State of California specifications for recycled content products that meet State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign (SABRC) standards that are more stringent than the U.S. EPA CPG specifications.
15. Give preference to companies offering free or low-cost product "take-back" services for their products to ensure that these items are safely managed at the end of their useful life.
The County recognizes that not all sustainability factors will be incorporated into every purchase. However, it is indented that County employees will make a good faith effort to incorporate and balance these factors to the maximum extent practical. Nothing in this document shall be construed as requiring the County or contractors to procure products that do not perform adequately for their intended use or are not available at a reasonable price in a reasonable period of time.
Implementation
The Department of Environmental Management shall establish and coordinate a "Sustainability Council" (SC) that includes the County Purchasing Manager and rotating representatives from other departments as they are needed to fulfill the purpose of this Policy.
The Sustainability Council shall:
a. Formulate plans to implement this policy;
b. Consult with the County Executive Office and other County departments to identify and prioritize opportunities to purchase sustainable products and services, as well as timelines for meeting specific milestones;
c. Designate any necessary and relevant definitions to be used in bid solicitations, specifications and contracts that are not covered in Section 4 of this policy.
d. Develop a strategy to educate County employees, vendors and contractors about the policy and enlist their support and participation;
e. Prepare and submit to the Board of Supervisors an annual report summarizing the progress made toward implementation of this policy during the previous year, goals for the following year, and recommended changes, if any, to the policy or implementation plan; including a fiscal analysis; and
f. Set and communicate goals, targets, and progress made to internal and external audiences;
g. Publish the County’s accomplishments and celebrate our successes.
The Purchasing Manager shall:
a. Develop procurement guidelines for specific products and services as they are analyzed to implement this policy;
b. Evaluate this policy on a trial basis to determine the feasibility of adding a Sustainable Purchasing section to the Napa County Purchasing Manual;
c. Encourage all County contractors and grantees to conform to this Policy such as those that procure materials or products to perform contractual services to the County;
d Develop and assist with developing specifications for environmentally preferred products and services, whenever practicable, in County solicitations and evaluation criteria;
e. Collaborate with County departments in the development and evaluation of technical and performance specifications for environmentally preferred products and services;
f. Implement the strategy to educate vendors and contractors about the policy;
g. Apply appropriate criteria for product categories that meet this policy’s goals;
h. Utilize our local resources and vendor base where appropriate; and
i. Work and do business with suppliers that, whenever practical:
o Offer to collect and recycle their products at the end of their useful life;
o Are certified as a Green Business by Napa County or another similar program that is acceptable to the County;
o Offer products that meet Certification Standards when applicable, as defined in Sec. 2.0;
o Demonstrate in their business practices a commitment to helping the County meet the goals set forth in this policy.
Napa County Departments shall:
a. Designate one or more liaisons in each department to work with the Sustainability Council in fulfilling the purpose of this policy, including increasing departmental use of sustainable products and services through internal training, information dissemination, development of internal procedures, and other means. Although not members of the Council, their valuable input and participation will assist the Sustainability Counsel in decision making processes;
b. Participate in the identification, selection and pilot testing, if necessary, of sustainable products and services that are specific to the department’s operations;
c. Include specifications for sustainable products and services, whenever practicable, in departmental solicitations, purchases and evaluation criteria as developed by the Purchasing Manager;
d. Provide feedback to the Sustainability Council regarding technical specifications, availability, performance and cost of sustainable products and services;
e. Encourage vendors and contractors to comply with this policy with respect to products and services procured in connection with the performance of any contractual obligations to the County.
Definitions
"Best Value" of a good or service means consideration of its quality, performance, sustainability impacts and total cost of ownership.
California State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign (SABRC) specifies recycled content (including percent of post-consumer material) for eleven product categories - Antifreeze, Compost/Co-compost, Glass, Lubricating Oils, Paint, Paper Products, Plastic Products, Printing and Writing Paper, Metal, Tires, Tire-Derived Products.
"Certification Standards" means universally recognized independent, third-party social and/or environmental labeling standards for products, services and/or business practices that are developed in a transparent and participatory stakeholder process.
"Environmentally Preferable Product" means a product that has a reduced negative effect or increased positive effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, fabrication, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, and disposal of the product. This term includes, but is not limited to, recyclable products, recycled products, and reusable products.
"EPA Guidelines" means the Final Guidelines of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program started in 1993 as a result of Executive Order 12873, and continuing under Executive Order 13423. The EPA Guidelines are designed to help Executive agencies meet their obligations under EO 13101 to identify and purchase environmentally preferable products and services. The EPA Guidelines address 10 broad categories including Buildings and Construction, Carpets, Cleaning, Electronics, Fleets, Food Services, Landscaping, Meetings & Conferences, Office Supplies, and Paper.
"EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) provide specifications for recycled content including total recovered material and percent post-consumer content. CPG address the following product categories: Construction Products, Landscaping Products, Non-paper Office Products, Paper and Paper Products, Park and Recreation Products, Transportation Products, Vehicular Products, and Miscellaneous Products
"Extended Producer Responsibility" (EPR), or Product Stewardship, means whoever designs, produces, sells or uses a product takes responsibility for minimizing its environmental impact through all stages of the product’s life cycle. The producer, having the greatest ability to minimize impacts, has the most responsibility. This approach creates economic incentives for designers, producers, distributors and waste managers to minimize waste and enhance material efficiency, affecting decisions on materials selection, production processes, packaging, and marketing.
"Life Cycle Analysis" means the comprehensive examination of a product’s environmental and economic effects throughout its lifetime including utilized materials, manufacturing processes, packaging, use, transportation, and disposal.
"Post-Consumer Content" means materials generated by consumer, business or institutional sources that have served their intended use or completed their lifecycle and would be destined for disposal had they not been diverted from the waste stream to be used as a feedstock (content) in place of raw or virgin materials in the manufacturing process.
"Pre-consumer Content" means materials generated by manufacturers and processors, which may consist of scrap, trimmings and other by-products that were never used in the consumer market and that have been diverted from the waste stream to be used as a feedstock (content) in place of raw or virgin materials in the manufacturing process.
"Recycled Content" means the amount of pre- and post-consumer recovered material introduced as a feed stock in a material production process, usually expressed as a percentage.
"Recyclable Product" means a product or package made from a material for which curbside or drop-off collection and recycling systems are in place for a majority of County residents or businesses, to divert from County solid waste.
"Refurbished" means the process of restoring a product by cleaning, repairing, recovering, and reusing the item for its original intended use.
"Remanufacturing" means the dismantling of a spent product to clean and repair the product for the same use. Replacement parts must be new after-market parts that meet the same specifications as original equipment manufactured parts.
"Sustainable Procurement" means the purchase of materials, products and services in a manner that integrates fiscal responsibility, social equity, and community and social stewardship without risking the resources of our future generations.
"Total Cost of Ownership" means using a calculation that compares goods and services based on factors that include, but are not limited to, acquisition, extended warranties, installation, operational costs (including supplies, energy and water consumption), maintenance and other labor costs, end-of-life management costs, and expected lifetime compared to other alternatives.